Final answer:
During the Gilded Age, children took on jobs in factories, mines, textile mills, and on farms to assist their families economically, often working in perilous conditions for low pay.
Step-by-step explanation:
During the Gilded Age, children often took on various types of jobs to help support their families due to economic necessity. They commonly worked long, arduous hours in industries such as:
- Factories, where children might operate or clean machinery
- Mines, especially coal mines, where small children could fit into tight spaces
- Textile mills, where their small hands were handy for tasks such as doffing
- Agriculture, including cotton fields and family farms
- Urban environments, where children sometimes did piecework at home
These jobs exposed children to dangerous working conditions, often for meager wages, replacing formal education with hard labor at a very young age.